A broken floodgate at Lake Adrian has resulted in lower than normal lake levels. Shane Horn from the city of Adrian utilities department said the city is looking at a bill between $150,000 and $200,000 to repair the damaged gate.

“This goes back to June when we had the heavy storms,” Horn said. “We opened the two floodgates (to regulate the lake level), and when we went to close them, one of the gates hit a section of a telephone pole that we didn’t know was down there.”

Equipment from Floyd’s Rigging was brought in to help with the situation and divers did their best to repair and physically see the damage, but the underwater visibility was poor, Horn said. Heavy sandbags were put in place, but the gate remains open about a foot, and the lake’s water level is down.

“People driving around the lake will see some dry spots they don’t normally see,” Horn said. “Homeowners around the lake are also concerned, but we have talked with them and told them what is going on.”

The recent dry spell has helped keep another potential problem in check and the rainfall Monday was not the problem it could have been. Heavy rainfall at any point after the June mishap could have caused flooding.

Horn said the wastewater treatment plant measured 1.6 inches of rain Monday in Adrian. The city will rely on the autumn rainfall to help replenish the lake level.

He said replacing the gate will also require driving sheet piling into the lake bed, and the level will need to be lowered when that work is done. The city is working with an engineering firm to develop the specifications to bid out the repairs. Horn said he expects the work won’t start until fall or early winter and, when it begins, the lake level will probably need to be lowered again.

“It is going to be expensive and it is just not an easy repair to make,” he said.